Dameron Hospital | Health Outlook | Spring 2019

10 HEALTH OUTLOOK hospital. A restaurant-style menu is located on the patient’s bedside table and enables them to enjoy a unique dining experience similar to hotel room service. Instead of being asked to place menu selections the day before, which has been customary for years in hospital food service, patients can now order what they want, when they want it during our kitchen’s regular operating hours (as long as it is within the patient’s dietary recommendations from their doctor). This unique restaurant-style dining experience features an extensive menu with a broad selection of culinary choices for all tastes and appetites. Items include pancakes, breakfast sandwiches and a build-your-own omelet option for breakfast; fresh salads, fruit plates, comforting soups and a comprehensive deli offering for lunch; and classic entrees that include roasted turkey, grilled salmon and beef tips with mushrooms for dinner. Dessert items such as Italian ices, angel food cake, custards, ice creams and sherbets are offered, as well as assorted beverages including juices, teas, coffee, lemonades and Italian sodas. The menu also uses visual-friendly icons and descriptors highlighting certain foods that are both heart-healthy and WHEN asked about hospital food, people typically respond negatively, either sharing a story about a bad experience or making a joke about hospital fare. Patients have become conditioned to expect hospital food to be prepped in advance, reheated and lacking in taste. After all, this is the level of food service quality that many hospitals across the country have provided for a very long time. To turn this perception around, Dameron Hospital has implemented a new food service program that sets higher standards of hospitality, service and quality. The new program moves away from pre-prepped food, instead offering meals with authentic flavor profiles and customized options that are made from scratch and prepared to order (à la minute) using fresh, local ingredients. Taking room service to a whole new level For patients staying at Dameron, our new Unit Host Room Service program is almost like being in a hotel instead of a Operation: Fresh food makeover Dameron’s new room service program offers garden-fresh, made-to-order meals when you want them